David Norman
NORMAN, Hugh David Boyd (David), BE MIEAust (1930-2020)
Early Life
David Norman was born at Beverley on January 24, 1930, the son of grazier, Colin Hugh Boyd (Hugh) Norman and his wife Ethel Constance Norman, nee Fisher. His father, C H B Norman, had purchased the 10,000 acre property Romilly Station, located 30 miles from Beverley in 1926, and through financial difficulties brought on by the Depression, was forced off the property in October 1936. C H B Norman became a livestock buyer for Thomas Borthwick and Son and moved his family to Subiaco.
David’s early education was disrupted by the combination of the distance of Romilly Station from Beverley and the loss of the property. Whilst the family moved to Subiaco in 1937, he did not commence formal education until 1938, at the age of eight. His first two teachers gave him extra attention and by the age of ten he had caught up with his age cohort.
In 1942, with his father away with the war, David was moved back to Beverley with his mother and younger sister. He returned to Perth in 1943 and completed his education at Hale School in 1947 being part of the winning Hale Head of the River rowing team. David’s father, C H B Norman had also rowed in the Head of the River for Hale and had been champion athlete at Hawksbury Agricultural College (NSW). C H B Norman had a distinguished military career achieving the rank of Brigadier and being awarded the Military Medal and the Distinguished Service Order.
In 1948 David enrolled in engineering at the University of Western Australia, living at St George's College from 1948 to 1952. He continued to demonstrate his prowess as a gifted athlete, setting a State Junior Shot Put Record in January 1949.
“David became President of UWA’s Athletic Club, and, according to fellow Georgian Richard Gertzel (1948), set about reorganising it. They entered about five events every Saturday afternoon at the State Athletics Association meetings and had some success. During his studies he impressed his teachers with his ingenuity: a professor had a fan from a mining ventilation system and David was tasked with improving it as his thesis for his final year. He dramatically improved the fan’s efficiency rating and was inspired to look at career opportunities in the newly emerging field of air conditioning” (Georgian 2020).
Engineering Career
David completed his engineering degree in 1952, graduating in 1953. In 1953 he was successful in applying for a South Australian based position as an air conditioning and ventilation engineer with the Commonwealth Department of Works. “I had been there about three months and was bored stiff. I was seriously looking for another job when the boss called me in one day and said ‘David you have been selected to go up to the Woomera Rocket Range to take over responsibility for the supervision of all work done in the mechanical services side on the range’. There was plenty going on at the range at the time, so I went.” (NDY 2020) David continued “There was indeed a lot happening at Woomera, with significant work being carried out on various projects. I was put in charge of two five man labour crews. The foremen on both gangs thought I was just a ‘wet behind the ears kid’. I also had to supervise all the outside contractors that were working on the range, as they were preparing for the British ‘Blue Streak’ rocket development. I had an excellent experience there and it reinforced to me that air conditioning was going to be a major industry.”
To pursue his interest in air conditioning he travelled to Toronto to take up a position with Carrier Corporation, an organisation that he had identified was a world leader in this new technology.
David arrived in Toronto in May 1954, and his unique experience and natural ability as a problem solver created a demand for his services. “Carrier offered me a salary of $275 a month. Others were prepared to pay me over $400 but I stuck with Carrier because I was after the knowledge they had. That turned out to be the right choice in the long run.” (NDY 2020)
David Norman spent three months designing air washers for a DuPont factory in Hamilton. Afterwards, he was seconded to the Supervision Division, where he spent the next two years putting in large plants all across Canada, from Winnipeg to Montreal. Each project had its own challenges, and David learned quickly what was necessary to have an efficient and reliable air conditioning plant.
David Norman’s ability to innovate in the fledgling industry of air conditioning was noticed by management and earmarked for greater responsibility. He was transferred to the Design Section and promptly sent off to do a three month training course in Syracuse. David said “The course really took you through every aspect of their operation, from design right through to cost control and documentation. It was very comprehensive and gave me all the basic information I needed to start my own operation.”
On completion of the course, David Norman returned to Toronto. He was responsible for several medium sized offices and a small number of industrial plants, before being placed in control of the Imperial Life Insurance building project. At the time, this was the largest building retrofit that had been done in Canada.
A unique challenge of this particular project was that the building had to remain operational during the retrofit. “They wanted to keep all the people in the building right through the entire project. This meant all the work had to be done at night and the office spotlessly cleaned the next morning to start. It was quite difficult, but we had good contractors and I learned valuable lessons from this project.” The retrofit was successful, and the client was particularly pleased that the building was kept in use throughout the process and gave Norman an excellent reference that he would later use in Australia to help establish his own company.
David Norman’s ongoing success, innovation, and adaptability, saw him appointed as Engineer in Charge of the General Air Conditioning Division for Canada, an astounding achievement for someone so young, and recognition of his capability in a rapidly expanding industry.
In November 1958 he returned to Australia travelling on the “Orontes” from London to Fremantle, arriving in time to share Christmas with his mother in South Perth. He then travelled on to New South Wales in 1959 looking for employment.
David immediately began looking for jobs, but the post war recession was still affecting the industry, making gainful employment difficult to find. A meeting arranged through friends with the CEO of Westinghouse, Australia (one of the largest and most diverse companies in the world at the time) proved to be the turning point for David. He discussed his thoughts and plans with him, and he asked David whether there were any other areas in which he could start his business. David mentioned that consultancy in the building services area was a viable option, particularly with a specialisation in the burgeoning air conditioning sector that was sure to be a major growth market in Australia’s warm climate.
David subsequently spent time investigating the status of the market, by visiting architects, consultants, engineers and equipment installers to gauge how the market was behaving. The architects in particular expressed concerns that the quality of consulting in the mechanical services side was lacking. David repeated the process in Melbourne, with the same result. Having identified the gap in the market, David proceeded to fill it. The climate of Sydney suited him better, so with that as the initial office, David set up his consultancy.
One of the first things he needed was a telephone. He was informed that this could take several months, which he found intolerable, however, if he had a government contract, it would be less than a week. He did exactly this, setting out to get a small government project approved. This satisfied the criteria, and got him his telephone. His first client at the same time as his new business cards arrived, boldly proclaiming his new venture as “HD Norman and Associates”.
David immediately set about cold calling as many architects and developers as he could, convincing anyone that he could to hire him, and spending the nights and weekends working on the projects that they contracted him to do. This continued for many months, as David sought to get his company into the consultancy list of as many businesses as possible.
The commitment soon paid off, with more work coming in than he could complete himself, he formed a partnership with his fellow University of Western Australia graduate and co resident of St Georges College, Leo Addicoat in May 1959, forming Norman & Addicoat. Leo Addicoat was responsible for the electrical, general mechanical and lifts, while David focused on the air conditioning, ventilation and refrigeration aspects of the work. They soon moved into a bigger premises at 50 Miller Street in North Sydney, in the corner of the structural consultant’s office of Taylor Thompson and Whitting.
Around this time David formed another partnership, when he married Christine Suzannah. They had four daughters Katharine, Jennifer, Joanna and Suzannah.
David continued aggressively pursuing work while Leo Addicoat held down the drafting during the day, with spare moments few and far between for both of them. By early 1960, the workload necessitated adding a design draftsman, and Alan Disney came on board. According to David, Alan displayed significant initiative and an ability to manage clients as well as staff. David recalled that “The volume of projects had dramatically increased, and with it we had to be selective in our choice of suppliers and installer. It took some time to get the quality we wanted but protecting the reputation of the business was a priority.” Yet despite the momentum, it would be some time before the firm won any large projects. David later commented that “In hindsight, I think it was of enormous benefit to us, that we were not awarded a major project before then. We needed the opportunity to iron out many industry equipment and installation problems on small plants and bed down our team before taking on a larger project. By focusing on smaller work, we were able to eliminate most of the major problems by the time we graduated to doing large work.” Alan, being a natural marketer, actively worked with David to secure several projects and develop good clientele.
Initially, Norman & Addicoat worked on smaller projects, such as office blocks, bowling alleys and RSL clubs, but the big break for David and his company came in 1963 when the company won two major city contracts – Goldfields House project on McKee Street and also the Sydney County Council building at the corner of Bathurst and George Streets. It’s a testament to David’s attention to quality and detail that there are many tall buildings designed in the 1960’s which remain fully operational to this day.
On a visit to family in Western Australia, Norman looked up an old school friend who was then a partner in the architectural practice of Forbes and Fitzhardinge. They had just been commissioned to design a new head office branch for the ANZ Bank. David Norman secured the air conditioning contract, under the condition that Norman & Addicoat open a branch in Perth, which they did in 1964. Engineer David Rae was tasked with managing the Perth office, a role that David Norman considered exceptionally important. Melbourne was the next target for expansion, and Peter Young was tasked with managing the new Victorian office. It took some time to gain momentum, due to the depressed economy and business climate.
In 1971, Leo Addicoat and David Norman had differences of opinion on the direction and structure of the company. The result was that Norman & Addicoat was dissolved, with Addicoat taking control of the electrical, mechanical and vertical transportation contracts in Sydney, while Norman was left with the air conditioning, ventilation and refrigeration, along with the Perth and Melbourne offices, with a total of 85 staff. The offspring from this business divorce was a new operation called Norman Disney & Young – reflecting the three principal partners.
Business continued, and in 1972, NDY opened up an office in Brisbane, immediately making an impact with a variety of work. The focus on client service had provided the firm with one of the most precious things a new business could have – a solid brand reputation.
NDY set itself at the forefront of the HVAC industry, pioneering an innovative low pressure reheat system for use in major buildings. Norman noted that “Up until our entry, nearly all systems in major buildings were High Pressure double duct systems. They were at least twice the price of the Low Pressure reheat system and used twice as much energy. When High Pressure Variable Air Volume or VAV systems appeared we converted our Low Pressure reheat system to a Low Pressure VAV System with reheat. We then produced a system which had a Constant Volume supply serving the perimeter and designed to offset the transmission load at all times." This in effect placed an envelope around the building and looks after all heating requirements. The VAV system then only has to deal with heat build up from sources such as the sun, lights, equipment, and the occupants themselves. This removed the need for heating coils on floors, and significantly reduced the amount of reheat required, which also reduced the maintenance requirements for the floors.
"This system was used in the NAB Building in George Street, Sydney and has operated at an energy usage of 165MJ/sq m pa of net air conditioned area. This is a figure stated by the AMP, who owned the building and is the lowest claim I have heard of, for any major office block in Australia." Norman adds.
NDY was also responsible for setting quite a few standards over these formative years. “We took the attitude that whenever we came across anything that wasn’t working correctly, we did something about it to either make it less maintenance intensive or more efficient. For example, we were having trouble with the package air conditioning plants in smaller buildings. The bearings, belts and alloy pulleys were all failing far too frequently. We examined the problem and found the bearings were failing due to undersizing, or by being over greased. We fixed this by using heavier bearings with a grease relief valve housing. Then we found that the belts were undersized, so they would slip on start up, and before long they would give up the ghost. We fixed that by using heavier duty belts or alternatively multiple belts. For the pulleys, we changed from alloy to cast iron.”
These three solutions were at negligible cost, but the saving in maintenance was enormous. Instead of replacing belt drives and bearings every year, the drives on package units were able to last for five to eight years, and the belts on large fans were often lasting up to 15 years, providing significant cost savings for the building owners. This was a revelation in the industry. NDY’s growing reputation for innovation continued with the Energy Plant Management Division (EPM). This was an initiative taken by NDY in response to the difficulties in getting contractors to properly tune and commission the plants. Long delays were common, with contractors requiring frequent instruction or onsite supervision. Additionally, many plants were running inefficiently, so the opportunity to meet client demand was identified. The team was able to improve the speed of installation, as well as tune the plants to be more efficient, for new and existing buildings.
The early eighties marked the turning point for the company, with offices opened in Kuala Lumpur and Canberra in 1982. The new Parliament House provided a major opportunity for NDY to contribute to a high profile project with national interest. “In 1982 we were awarded the new Canberra Parliament House to do the air conditioning, the Building Monitoring System, the sprinkler system and the beer plumbing. That was the biggest job we had ever done to that point.” Shortly after, NDY opened an office in Adelaide, with quick success. This prompted an expansion into New Zealand, with offices in Auckland and Wellington. By 1989, NDY employed around 500 people.
David Norman retired in 1994 but stayed on at the Board until 1998. NDY had offices in all major cities across Australia and New Zealand. Some of the firm’s most celebrated work includes the new Parliament House in Canberra, Sanctuary Cove Resort, AMP Tower Brisbane and The State Bank, Sydney.
David was a mentor to many throughout his career and was highly respected in the industry for his pioneering work in greater efficiency and innovative ways of designing commercial air conditioning. In Perth many of the office buildings on St Georges Terrace were NDY projects including QV1, the AMP Tower and the Westpac building.
Other Interests
With a strong love of the land, David followed in his father’s footsteps and invested in his first farm in the late 1970s. He was interested in biological farming and embarked on a soil improvement program which paid dividends in the recent drought. He loved spending time in the wide open space, observing wildlife and he was dedicated to caring for his land and producing the best possible sheep.
David was also a dedicated Rotarian and a founding member of the St Leonards Rotary Club in NSW. It was during this time that he built his list of charities to support. Many received donations from David for well over 20 years, including St George’s College. His legacy lives on with the work of the Norman Family Office, which is now managed by his daughter. For all his talent, wealth and giving, he was a humble man who gave his love and time to many and he will be greatly missed.
David had joined the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1959 on his return from Canada.
He died on January 31, 2020 aged 90 and was survived by his wife Chris and their four daughters.
References
https:ndy.com/from-rockets-to-recirculation NDY (2020) Rockets to Circulation, accessed 8.9.2020, Norman Disney & Young
The Georgian Magazine, Winter 2020 Edition
Beverley Times, 11.7.1941, p2
West Australian, 28.3.1953, p5
